Protector or guard for a glass containing an iced drink



Sept. 3, 1968 M. MACALUSO, JR. ETAL 3,

PROTECTOR OR GUARD FOR A GLASS CONTAINING AN ICED DRINK Filed Dec. 27, 1966 FIG. I

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INVENTORS MICHAEL MACALUSO JR.

JOHN A. CORSETTI @7 n M WWmJ/u 4 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,399,780 PROTECTOR 0R GUARD FOR A GLASS CONTAINING AN ICED DRINK Michael Macaluso, Jr., 222 Chili Ave. 14611, and John Anthony Corsetti, 179 Nichols St. 14609, both of Rochester, N.Y.

- Filed Dec. 27, 1966, Ser. No. 604,797

Claims. (Cl. 210-469) ABSTRACT on THE DISCLOSURE A lipprotector device used in combination with a drinking glass or the like wherein the device is a onepiece plastic member having a generally fiat level base platform rimmed with a rib and of generally C shape for permitting entry of ice cubes into the glass at the inside portion of the C while blocking flow of ice cubes from the glass by the body of the C shape with the outside portion of the C shape adjacent the glass wall. A pair of flat resilient arms extend from each end of the platform and are bent upwardly to resiliently engage outwardly against the glass with each arm having a snap clip member snap engaging the glass lip. The outer portion of the C shape platform can have straining serrations. The snap clip elements can be generally tubular across the width of the arm for resiliently engaging the lip and/or can have a plurality of inwardly projecting lugs for assisting in tighter engagement of the glass lip.

This invention relates to a 'protecting'device forprotecting the lips, teeth and/or nose of one who is drinking an iced drink from being struck by ice cubes during drinkmg.

It has previously been proposed to provide protecting devices for protecting the mouth of one drinking an iced drink. For example, U.S'. Patents Nos. 2,198,059, 2,265,- 403 and 2,753,049 disclose such devices. However, such devices have heretofore been deficient in one or more ways; For example, the devices have not been truly adjustable to a variety of different glass sizes; they are often so configurated so as to engage the lip or nose of the user during use and this can not only be very distracting but can result in the leaving of unsightly smudges of lipstick on the device. Many of the devices do not truly positively lock to the glass lip; some produce too great a straining effect for use with drinks containing pulverized fruit pulps or like ingredients, and others include dams or weirs over which the drink flows and over which the last remaining portion of the drink cannot flow without the danger of ice cubes falling over the weirs; and in some cases, ice cubes striking the guard can actually dislodge the guard from the glass lip.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a new and useful protector of the class described which can be used on glasses of varying sizes for protecting the users mouth from impact by ice cubes, or the like.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a protector which is inexpensively and easily manufactured so that it can be disposed of after one use, if desired.

A further object of this invention is to provide a protector according to any of the foregoing objects which has positive locking engagement with the lip of a glass, and which remains out of contact with the users mouth and nose.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a protecting device which engages the glass lip at generally spaced positions thereacross for securing the protecting device to the glass, leaving a great proportion of the lip area of the glass for drinking purposes.

Another more specific object of this invention is to provide a protector device according to any of the foregoing objects which includes a generally horizontal guard surface for more complete blocking of ice.

Yet another object is to provide a protector device which can be adjusted on the glass lip or rim to control flow of chopped ice or the like therethrough.

Other objects of this invention include the provision of a non-straining protector which permits free fiow of the total drink from the glass while retaining ice cubes, or the like.

Still other objects of this invention will be apparent from the following description and the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drinking glass containing an iced drink and having attached thereto one embodiment of the protector device of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of an assembled glass and protector device, such as is shown in FIG. 1, but illustrating the ability of the device to grippingly engage the lips of glasses of a variety of lip diameters;

FIG. 2A is a top plan view similar to FIG. 2, only showing a modified edge construction of the protector device;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged section, taken along line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view and partial section of the protector device shown in FIG. 4 with the protector device removed from the glass lip;

FIG. 6 is a section through a modified form of glass lip locking system useful in the devices of this invention;

FIG. 7 is an end view taken from the right side of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of a molded protector device assembled with a lip of a glass.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will be described herein in detail a specific embodiment and modifications thereof with the understanding that the embodiment and modifications are only exemplifications of the invention and are not intended to be limiting thereon.

Turning first to FIGS. 1 through 5, there is provided a protector device 12 for use on a glass containing an iced drink as indicated at 10. Protector device 12 is an integral resilient plastic member having a base portion 14 with a circumferential strengthening rib 16 and having a pair of resilient bendable opposing arms 18 upstanding from opposite ends of the base portion 14. Each arm 18 has a base end which is integral with base member 14 and an upper extremity portion, which has a resilient clip element 20 for resiliently engaging and locking to the lip of glass 10. The resilient clip element, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 through 5, is of generally inverted U configuration having partially closed ends of the U merging toward each other to form ribs 22 and can be considered as a tubular element having an open wall for snap entry of the glass lip into the tubular configuration. The length of the tubular configuration is sufiicient to maintain resilient pressure on the walls of the tubular portion by the curved configuration of the glass lip. Thus the length of the tubular configuration is suflicient to engage the inner surface of the curved glass rim at spaced positions at each end of the tubular configuration and to engage the outer surface of the rim intermediate those spaced positions. The lip engaging ribs 22 snap over the glass rim, e.g. a beaded rim or a plain rim, and lock onto the glass walls. It will be noted that the engaging and locking element 20 has generally flat opposing surface portions as best seen in FIG. 6 and, as seen in FIG. 7, the lengthwise extent of these surfaces across the width of the arm 18 is sufficient to cause a force tending to open the clip element via the curvature of the glass rim when the clip element is snapped onto the lip of the glass.

Turning now to FIGS. 6 and 7, a modified form of clip element is shown wherein the ribs 22 are replaced by lugs 24. One lug is provided projecting inwardly from the outer leg of the inverted U-shaped clip element and two lugs are provided projecting inwardly from the inner leg. It will be apparent that these lugs provide positions of intimate and locking engagement with the outer and inner surfaces of the glass wall, particularly in view of the resiliency of the material from which the protector is made.

Comparing the device as shown in FIG. 5, with the device as shown in FIGS. 1 or 4, it will be noted that when installed, the arms 18 may be bent inwardly and through their resiliency, press the inner ribs 22 fast against the inner surface of the glass at spaced positions across the glass. This assists in locking to the glass rim by the gripping elements 20. With the protector device installed, the base member 14 extends generally horizontally across the glass. This base member is imperforate and presents a large blocking area for retaining the ice cubes within the glass during drinking. The base member 14 also has a cutaway portion, as at 28, for accommodating the drinkers nose and preventing engagement of the nose with the protector 12 during drinking. Portion 28 also permits the addition of ice cubes to the drink without removing the protector from the glass. In the preferred form, as shown in the drawings, the cutaway portion 28 is provided by making the base portion 14 in the shape of a C, with the arms 18 upstanding from the top and bottom ends of the C. Additionally, on the opposite side of the nose-accommodating cutout portion 28, the device has its base portion 14 configurated so as to leave a gap 26 between the device and the glass wall for free flow of liquid therethrough.

Advantages of the device of this invention include lightweight, disposable, inexpensive one-piece, plastic construction. The device covers only a small amount of the lip area of the glass and leaves a great amount of lip area from which to drink. The device also presents a broad horizontal surface at portion 14 which is fully suflicient for retaining ice cubes within the glass and which can be printed with advertising material or decorated in such manner as to make its appearance very pleasing. The device, in its preferred form, is configurated with arms 18 of suflicient length to dispose the portion 14 within the glass a sufficient distance below the rim to prevent engagement of the protector with the users lips, and yet the platform or base portion 14 is sufficiently close to the normal liquid surface to prevent floating of an ice cube thereabove. However, should an ice cube hit the bottom of the base portion 14 with sufficient impact to normally dislodge the clip members from the glass rim, the base portion 14 is sufliciently close to the rim to be backed by the users lips, so that under such impact the base portion 14 functions as a cushioning between the ice cube and lips and the users lips will prevent suflicient movement of the base portion 14 toward the rim of the glass to dislodge the clip members 20. The resilient pressing of the arms against the inside wall of the glass further assists in retaining the protector in proper position.

The device snaps on all normal size glasses, paper cups and plastic cups, and the resilient snap clipping of the device to the glass rim is of suflicient strength to keep ice cubes from floating on the top of the drink and to keep ice cubes from floating or sliding into contact with the drinkers mouth. The device can even be used on glasses having lip or rim diameters much smaller than those normally used for iced drinks.

The protector can be adjusted to provide a larger or smaller gap 26, as desired, to permit small amounts of ice to come through gap 26 for those who enjoy ice with their drink, especially where crushed ice is used in lieu of the ice cubes. Such adjustment of the gap 26 can also be used to control the flow of the drink for further enjoyment. Also, the device is designed to permit one to drink from the rim of the glass itself rather than some insert on the glass rim. Due to the versatility of adjustment, no holes are necessary in portion 14 since entirely adequate flow can be obtained without them.

In one specific form, as illustrated in FIG. 2A, the edge 32 of the device along gap 26 can be serrated or notched, if desired, to give an added straining effect. In another form, useful in protection against ice cubes while providing full flow for fast drinkers, the platform 14 can be perforated or can be of an injection molded lattice design such as shown in FIG. 8.

We claim:

1. A combination utilizing a lip protector which combination comprises a protector member and a glass for containing an iced drink, said protector member being an integral formed plastic sheet including: a central C-shaped flat base element defining a horizontal platform within the glass and having a peripheral strengthening rib, a pair of elongated resilient flexible arm elements attached at opposite ends of the C and each having a normal non-engaged position and a bent inward position engaged with the glass, said arm elements extending diagonally outwardly from said horizontal platform when in non-engaged position, and a tubular snap clip portion at the extremity portion of each arm element, said snap clip portions being snap-clipped on the glass lip at spaced positions across said lip, said arm elements being so constructed and arranged to cause the upper portion of each arm to press against the inner glass surface in the engaged position, said arm elements supporting said C-shaped base member across and within said glass against removal by impact from ice cubes within said glass, said flexible arm elements being adapted to be bent inwardly to various engaged positions depending on the diameter of the glass and to spring back to their non-engaged diagonally outward position when disengaged from the glass, the outer curved side of said C-shape extending between said arms and along the inner curvature of the glass, the inner open side of said C-shape being sufficiently open for insertion of ice cubes into the glass beyond said base element and said C-shape including a sufficiently wide expanse of the plastic sheet material between the outer side and open side thereof to block flow of ice cubes from said glass during drinking from said glass from the portion of the glass lip along the outer curved side of the C-shape.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the tubular shape of each snap clip portion is of sufficient length to engage the inner surface of the curved glass rim at spaced positions at each end of the tubular shape and to engage the outer surface of the rim intermediate those spaced positions.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein the outer curved side of said C-shape is serrated.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said base element is imperforate.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein each snap clip portion includes opposing facing surfaces with one surface facing inwardly from the exterior lip of the glass and the other surface facing outwardly toward the interior surface of the glass, two lug projections projecting outwardly from the outwardly facing surface and engaging the glass at spaced positions along the rim and a lug projecting inlugs.

wardly from the inwardly facing surface and engaging the outer surface of the glass intermediate said two spaced References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Weller 220902 X Greenough 210-469 Barrows 22090.2

FOREIGN PATENTS 8/1936 France. 4/1914 Great Britain.

REUBEN FRIEDMAN, Primary Examiner. Link 210469 10 C. DITLOW, Assistant Examiner. 

